Understanding the True Power of Communion: More Than Just Remembrance

Many Christians regularly participate in communion without truly understanding its significance. We take the bread and drink the cup week after week, yet often leave church unchanged - still struggling with the same issues, the same lack of power in our spiritual lives. This raises an important question: Are we missing something crucial about what communion actually means?

Why Do Christians Take Communion Without Experiencing Its Power?

The problem isn't that communion lacks power - it's that we often don't understand what we're doing. We've reduced this sacred act to either a purely symbolic ritual or treated it as a casual weekly tradition. But Scripture reveals that communion is far more significant than most believers realize.

In seminary, students learn about different theological perspectives on communion. Some believe the bread and wine literally become Christ's flesh and blood. Others view it as purely symbolic remembrance. But both approaches can miss the deeper truth: communion is about entering into covenant relationship with God.

What Does Scripture Say About Taking Communion Unworthily?

First Corinthians 11:27-32 contains some sobering warnings about communion that many Christians overlook:

"Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep." - 1 Corinthians 11:27-30

Paul isn't telling people to stay away from communion - he's warning against taking it without understanding its significance. The early church experienced physical consequences when believers participated without proper reverence or understanding.

The Importance of Self-Examination

The passage emphasizes examining yourself before taking communion. This doesn't mean you need to be perfect, but rather that you should approach with a heart seeking after God, not harboring unforgiveness, resentment, or treating the act casually.

There was a time when refusing communion was the right choice - not out of fear, but out of recognition that unresolved bitterness needed to be addressed first. The goal isn't to avoid communion permanently, but to prepare your heart properly.

Understanding Covenant vs. Contract

One of the biggest misconceptions Christians have is treating their relationship with God like a business contract rather than a covenant. In our transactional culture, we often think: "I obey, God blesses. I mess up, God pulls back." But this isn't how God operates.

What Makes a Covenant Different?

A covenant is fundamentally different from a contract. Covenants aren't made to benefit the person making them - they're made to benefit the recipient. When God enters covenant with us, it's not because we deserve it or because He needs something from us. It's for our benefit.

The Hebrew word hesed appears 240 times in Scripture, often translated as "loving kindness," "mercy," or "steadfast love." It means "I am bound to you even when you don't deserve it." This is the heart of God's covenant relationship with us.

How Were Ancient Covenants Made?

Understanding ancient covenant-making practices illuminates what Jesus accomplished for us:

The Seven Steps of Covenant Making

1. Exchange of coats - "All I have is yours"
2. Exchange of weapons - "Your battles are now my battles"
3. Walking through split animals - Commitment even unto death
4. Invoking God as witness - Divine accountability
5. Cutting flesh/blood mingling - Permanent bond
6. Name change - New identity and belonging
7. Covenant meal - Celebration and remembrance

Jesus fulfilled every aspect of covenant making. He gave everything He had, fought our battles, died for us, was witnessed by the Father, shed His blood, gave us new identity as children of God, and instituted communion as our covenant meal.

What Did Jesus Mean by "Eat My Flesh and Drink My Blood"?

In John 6:46-58, Jesus made startling statements about eating His flesh and drinking His blood. The Jews were confused, thinking He was promoting cannibalism. But Jesus was speaking covenantally, not literally or merely symbolically.

"Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." - John 6:53-54

Jesus was explaining that communion isn't just remembrance - it's participation in covenant relationship that brings life, power, and resurrection hope.

How Should We Approach Communion?

Communion should be taken:

• Covenantally - Understanding you're in relationship with God
• Regularly - Not just occasionally or when you feel like it
• Reverently - With proper understanding of its significance
• Expectantly - Believing God honors His covenant promises

You don't need to "get right with God" before taking communion. You come because you're already invited through Christ's sacrifice. The table isn't for perfect people - it's for covenant people.

What Are the Benefits of Understanding Covenant?

When you understand your covenant relationship with God, you can:

• Call on God's power in ways you couldn't before
• Live with confidence in His faithfulness
• Experience breakthrough in areas of persistent struggle
• Walk in the authority of being God's friend, not just His servant

Jesus said in John 15:15: "No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you."

Life Application

This week, examine your approach to communion and your understanding of your relationship with God. Are you living like you're in a business contract with Him, or like you're in a covenant relationship? Stop treating communion as a casual ritual and start seeing it as participation in the most powerful covenant ever made.

Consider these questions:

• Do I approach communion with reverence and understanding, or just as a weekly tradition?
• Am I living like I'm God's business partner or His covenant child?
• What areas of my life need the power that comes from understanding my covenant relationship with God?
• How would my daily decisions change if I truly believed God fights my battles and has bound Himself to me through covenant?

The next time you take communion, remember: Jesus wasn't starting a tradition - He was sealing a covenant. Don't just eat and drink; enter into the fullness of what God has provided for you through His unchanging promises.

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